Conventionally, a composite of a tow that has been bloomed or opened (hereinafter, a “bloomed tow” or “bloomed fiber material”) and a polymer absorbent, the composite being wrapped up in paper, has been used as an absorber for use in a disposable diaper or the like. The bloomed tow is obtained by blooming or opening a single original tow with use of blooming rollers and blooming jets, and is usually single-layered. In a case where a layered body of such bloomed tows is required, first, a plurality of single-layered bloomed tows are fabricated, and then the plurality of single-layered bloomed tows are stacked together to be a multi-layered body. In this manner, a layered body of bloomed tows is manufactured. When manufacturing such a layered body of bloomed tows, a plurality of tow bales and blooming equipment for blooming the tows are necessary. Thus, there have been problems in terms of costs and installation space.
In order to overcome the above problems, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method of manufacturing an absorber by using two layers of bloomed tows that are fabricated from a single original tow. The manufacturing method of Patent Literature 1 includes: blooming an original tow by using blooming devices (banding jets and blooming rollers) in a state where the tow is extended in its longitudinal direction; cutting the bloomed tow in its longitudinal direction into two bloomed tows by using an anvil roller and a roll slitter; and reducing the tensile strength of each of the bloomed tows by using a vacuum conveyor, such that the bloomed tows are crimped.